Hacking Transferring one Wii U external hard drive to a bigger one

[Hammyface]

Hi!

I have my Wii U hacked with many of my backed up games on an external drive. However, I now need a bigger one.

Is there an easy way to transfer one Wii U drive to the other? I know it's not as easy as the 3DS. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Olmectron]

Hi!

I have my Wii U hacked with many of my backed up games on an external drive. However, I now need a bigger one.

Is there an easy way to transfer one Wii U drive to the other? I know it's not as easy as the 3DS. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

1. Turn off the console.
2. Disconnect the actual HDD when the light is red (not when orange, as it may be writing data to the disk).
3. Connect the new and bigger HDD.
4. Turn on the console.
5. Format for Wii U when asked.
6. Enter System Settings.
7. Connect your old HDD.
8. Enter Data Management.
9. You'll be able to transfer apps and games between both HDDs.
10. Transfer all data (It could take a while, depending on how much data you're transferring).
11. Done.

 

[Akzar]

From what I've looked into it seems that you can not. The most you can do is a 1:1 clone

eg - if you cloned a 500Gb drive to a 1 TB drive, you would only be able to use 500Gb, otherwise you would have to reformat it on the wii U to make use of the whole drive.

I actually have been looking into this to see if my failing 500Gb book drive could be moved move to a 500 Gb SSD I have.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Kafluke]

From what I've looked into it seems that you can not. The most you can do is a 1:1 clone

eg - if you cloned a 500Gb drive to a 1 TB drive, you would only be able to use 500Gb, otherwise you would have to reformat it on the wii U to make use of the whole drive.

I actually have been looking into this to see if my failing 500Gb book drive could be moved move to a 500 Gb SSD I have.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

There is no way to do a 1:1 clone. No imaging software will read the proprietary file system. Others have tried using cloning hardware with raw cloning and it didn't work either

 

[Akzar]

Thanks for the heads up. I guess it was all hypothetical I read, which unfortunately is proven false. Kinda sucks, since I know my drive is on it's way out, but at least I saved all the installable files. I hope the OP has them as well to save a big step.

What about copying from the Wii U USB to another USB connected?

 

[Olmectron]

Thanks for the heads up. I guess it was all hypothetical I read, which unfortunately is proven false. Kinda sucks, since I know my drive is on it's way out, but at least I saved all the installable files. I hope the OP has them as well to save a big step.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

You can simply format a second HDD, and transfer everything from the first HDD via Data Management in the Wii U!!!

Did someone read my post?

 

[Akzar]

You can simply format a second HDD, and transfer everything from the first HDD via Data Management in the Wii U!!!

Did someone read my post?

Our posts crossed paths! You must have submitted your reply while I was still writing. I actually was just logging back on to post the same method posted by apachehavok:

Nov 7, 2016
apachehavok

This WILL NOT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I threw up a PSA about this last week. The WiiU locks the Drive AND the controller. The ONLY way to clone a drive and still have a it work on the same WiiU is to use the built in wii software

- Shut down WiiU
- plug in new HDD and format it
- THEN plug in original drive
- WiiU will kick you to the drive storage menu
- Copy ALL from the source to the new drive.

900GB took about 2.5 days. Leave it on for a weekend. Go outside

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Hammyface]

1. Turn off the console.
2. Disconnect the actual HDD when the light is red (not when orange, as it may be writing data to the disk).
3. Connect the new and bigger HDD.
4. Turn on the console.
5. Format for Wii U when asked.
6. Enter System Settings.
7. Connect your old HDD.
8. Enter Data Management.
9. You'll be able to transfer apps and games between both HDDs.
10. Transfer all data (It could take a while, depending on how much data you're transferring).
11. Done.

Never in a million years would I have thought this would work. I was ripping my hair out trying to clone the drive. Thank you so so much! This is such an awesome community!